Never Say Never; Heart of Racing’s Elusive Win Pursuit; Tough Outings for Contenders
By David Phillips
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Year in and year out, the Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway is one of the highlights of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for any number of reasons.
Its expansive 1,300 acres of manicured lawns including the 3.27-mile, 17-turn Full Course could be mistaken for fairways at pristine golf courses in the South. Then there’s the singular opportunity to witness both Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and GTD categories enjoy the special track all to themselves; a tradition unlike any other in the modern era WeatherTech Championship for more than a decade.
Perhaps best of all, its traditional late August date sets the scene as the opening act of a trilogy that caps the WeatherTech Championship schedule to decide the titles. Results here tend to exert an outsized impact on the driver, manufacturer and team championships in both GTD PRO and GTD. Thus, the competition seems just that little bit more intense, the pressure just that much higher, and the margin for error just that much smaller.
Never Say Never
Regardless of how their championships resolve, both Sunday winners – Pfaff Motorsports in GTD PRO and Winward Racing in GTD – will have much to be proud of when reflecting on their 2026 seasons.
A few months ago, only a riverboat gambler would have bet a dime on their chances of figuring in their respective championship races.
Winward’s No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 opened its account in pursuit of its third straight title with a Rolex 24 At Daytona win but finished ninth or worse in three of the next four races. Meanwhile, Pfaff ran its tried-and-true Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 at Daytona before introducing its brand-new Lamborghini Temerario GT3 in worldwide competition at Sebring. The goal then was finishing; the goal now is winning.
Leaving Watkins Glen just three races and not even two full months ago, Winward’s Philip Ellis and Russell Ward were sixth in GTD, 300 points behind Eduardo “Dudu” Barrichello. Pfaff’s Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell, meanwhile, sat seventh in GTD PRO and 210 points back.
But July and August have been kind to these two in their unlikely title pursuits. They’ve got five of six combined GT wins across Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Road America and VIR.
The Winward hat trick has propelled Ellis and Ward to the GTD lead, now 36 clear of second place. Pfaff’s Caldarelli and Mitchell are now third in GTD PRO and only 56 off the lead.
“I think it’s just a swing in luck,” Ward modestly observed. “I mean, there’s still two races to go and it’s really, really tight in the points. I mean, the difference between first and second is 30 points, the difference between second and third is 20, and then it’s (basc 10 points down from there. Everybody’s within two or three positions to be honest. So, you know, it’s still a lot of fight left (and) you never know what can happen in the next two races.”
Meanwhile Caldarelli, Mitchell and the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini have suddenly emerged with a serious chance to make a title bid few thought possible.
“(The championship) was never even a topic within the team,” Caldarelli noted. “We know the mountain that we have to overcome with a new car, but I have to say the spirit of the team has been always hopeful and very positive about every weekend. I’m not saying that we were looking at championships in Sebring, but I think we stayed positive (and) that in hindsight, it’s always like if you execute always a good weekend, like you never say never.”
Heart of Racing’s Elusive Win Pursuit Continues
It was a tough weekend at the office for Heart of Racing Team’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo and drivers Barrichello and Tom Gamble.
A technical infraction in qualifying cost the No. 27 car its two fastest laps and relegated the GTD points leader to an unrepresentative 11th to start Sunday’s race. Unfazed (and aided by a full course yellow that bunched the field), the Brazilian scythed his way through the field to take over the lead in his quest for his first class win in a season that has seen him lead the championship race since earning a trio of podium finishes in the first four races while driving with a revolving cast of co-drivers.
For the second time this year though, a potential win went begging late. At Sebring, Antonio Fuoco passed Gamble on the final lap. At VIR, contact with Ellis left Gamble on the receiving end of a drive-through penalty assessed for incident responsibility when battling for the win. Fourth was a salvageable result, but not what was desired as Barrichello slipped to third in the championship.
“It was good fun,” Barrichello said of his opening stint. “But then we didn’t complete the job, and we haven’t completed the job this year.
“We’ve been struggling to get a rhythm. In the beginning of the season, we did a good job in getting a couple podiums, but we’re struggling at the minute. We’ve had a lot of penalties coming our way, and it’s difficult to say what’s wrong. A podium would have been nice. We just have to regroup and try to get a nice race.”
Tough Outings for Other Front Runners
Several leading GT entries in both classes experienced a tough VIR weekend.
VIR’s winningest IMSA marque, Chevrolet, had a disappointing weekend in particular. On the first lap, one of its GTD PRO cars went out and the GTD polesitter fell out of contention.
First and foremost, Alexander Sims was fortunate to escape any injury when the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R crashed heavily in the Climbing Esses on the opening lap.
“It was tight going through the Esses with the cars going side by side,” said Sims. “I could see the left hander coming up and Harry (King in the AO Racing Porsche) was on my right and it was just tight. At some point I had to decide to go over the curb . . . I just lost control, unfortunately on cold tires on a compromised place on the track. It was a big hit but the tire barriers did a really good job, thankfully. I don’t think it was overly aggressive, honestly. We’re all racing hard but pretty fair.”
Also suffering a rough opening lap was the GTD-pole winning No. 81 DragonSpeed Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which went several laps down after tangling with the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO. The No. 34 was assessed a drive-through for incident responsibility there.
What’s more (or less), the No. 4 Corvette of Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner came home a disappointing sixth place on a day when they might have made up ground on the GTD PRO championship leading No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO which placed fifth. They’re only 23 points back, but rued the missed opportunity.
“Really disappointing because I think with the race being green, we would have had an easy P2 today, potentially even P1 with the pace that we had,” said Catsburg. “On both pit stops, we lost a lot of time. The first pit stop, the door didn’t close, which is a returning issue that we need to address. And then on the second stop, I don’t think all the energy that we needed to put in went in. That meant that Tommy’s stints were heavily compromised. He needed to save like crazy, which he did an awesome job at doing some damage control there.
“We could have gotten off a lot worse there, but initially we should have definitely had a very good race here and also in terms of championship. This got away from us. It is what it is. We need to get all of our heads together and try and see how we can limit those issues from happening again.”
Neither Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 had a great day in either class, while AO Racing attempted a different strategy to gain track position with its No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992). Cautions did not fall “Rexy’s” way Sunday to make that work despite the team’s best efforts.
These are championship-winning outfits and with two races to go, this batch of teams will be keen to put VIR in the rear-view mirror quickly and look ahead to Indianapolis in a month’s time.